


Ultimate Full Combo

by forestofsecrets



Category: Uta no Prince-sama
Genre: Comedy, Gen, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-19
Updated: 2020-09-19
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:34:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,838
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26549827
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/forestofsecrets/pseuds/forestofsecrets
Summary: With the help and encouragement of Otoya, Syo, and Shion, Cecil works hard for that full combo!
Comments: 4
Kudos: 13





	Ultimate Full Combo

**Author's Note:**

> I finally got my full combo in Netsujou Serenade and yes I know it's nearly been 3 years since the English version of the app was released... I've been wanting to slowly incorporate the HEAVENS members in my stories. I nearly have 100 stories by now so it's time lol. Shion is my favourite one from the group so I wanted to fit him in! Though writing his type of speech is something that I still need to practice more!
> 
> Every so often, I remember that I can use italics.
> 
> Made on 09/18/2020.

The notes flew across the screen but Cecil’s fingers were faster.

Or, at least, he’d like to believe they were faster.

The combo count at the bottom of the screen told him that, in fact, they were not.

As the song ended and Cecil’s own voice told him what a good job he had done, the note breakdown told a different story. He was aiming for an ultimate combo, the highest distinction that Shining Live could offer. Instead, he got a myriad mix of bads and misses souring his score. Even if this was on pro level, he had vowed to keep at it until he was able to clear the song with ease.

And okay, yeah, he wanted that little rainbow sticker next to the song.

The prince wasn’t alone in his endeavours. Scattered about the room were Syo and Otoya, his band of brothers in this quest. With some extra time on their hands, they were determined to pull it off for sure this time. 

The song in question? Netsujou Serenade. It proved to be the bane of Cecil’s Shining Live existence. It, alone, stood above the rest as his white whale, his elusive goal. Other songs may be more difficult but none of the others had ever shut him down so consistently before. It was frustrating, pushed past a normal level.

“Maybe it’s just impossible?” Otoya’s phone had been set down some time ago. With his head tipped back against the back of the sofa he occupied; Cecil just assumed he needed a minute. “My fingers don’t move that fast…”

It took a few seconds for Syo to answer. “I saw Hijirikawa do it the other day. Dude’s like, a robot.” He never looked up from his phone screen, speaking slowly as if using a normal tone would disrupt his rhythm. “It’s possible but,” breaking off with a noise of irritation, Syo looked up and ran a hand through his hair, “not for me yet. I just used all my stamina.” 

At the mention of the in-game limiting factor, the stamina, Cecil did a few quick taps to check how many more times he would be able to play. A grand total of two more times for him. From his spot on the sofa, Otoya didn’t bother to check. He just groaned how he was also out of stamina and how his fingers hurt.

Cecil frowned; they were the last in STARISH to get this achievement. “Syo, this is one of your songs. Is there a trick to it?” The irony wasn’t lost on Syo that, despite being one of the three singers, Syo was unable to catch the beat.

Grumbling comically, Syo’s voice turned up the volume on their conversation. “You think I don’t know that?” Then, in a more subdued tone, “they did something funny with all the notes. It wasn’t like we asked them to make this song super hard.” There had to be a challenge for the more advanced players somewhere, Cecil figured.

Lightbulb moment.

“What if someone give us some advice?” The other two responded to Cecil’s words with stares. Otoya had even bothered to lean forward enough to look Cecil in the eye, silently asking who he meant.

“If you mean Hijirikawa, he’s busy.” Syo stated this like he had already asked him. “I already asked him.” 

Swiping the app closed, Cecil pulled up his contacts. Ever since that joint project with HEAVENS, Cecil and his counterpart kept in contact. “I know someone who can help us.” Tapping on Shion’s contact profile, the screen switched to a dial pad. Lifting the phone to his ear, Cecil heard the phone ring.

The ringing stopped nearly as soon as it started, a sleepy voice answered. “Cecil?” 

Sitting up straight, Cecil got right to the point. “Shion! I need your help!” Coming in closer, Otoya and Syo both crowded Cecil’s space to try to catch the reply on the other side of the phone.

What came through sounded like a lazy grunt. Did they wake him or something? “Help?” 

Cutting right to the chase, Cecil posed his question. “How did you get your ultimate combo in Netsujou Serenade?” 

“How…?” Shion spoke on his own for the first time since the call began. “I became one with the notes.” Not that it was much help, admittedly. 

“They all stick together! How did you do it?” 

Silence. The three idols on the one end waited with baited breath for Shion to reveal his secrets. 

“Let the voices pull you in and play with swiftness... Is that all?” There was a shuffling in the background followed by a sigh. It didn’t take much to imagine that the three idols really had woken Shion up from a nap. 

“Yes! Thank you!” The call concluded with a press of a button.

(“You mean, you actually understood him?” “Yes! He said to increase the note speed!” “Was that what he said…”)

The application was rapidly reopened on Cecil’s phone and while the title screen loaded, Syo hummed pensively. “Why’d you call him for this? Is he a good player?” The skepticism was obvious in the snide look, complete with raised eyebrows with downturned lips. 

“His profile has a perfect record!” That spoke for itself and got a few interested blinks from the idols on either side of Cecil. The music from the game was audible by now, cheerfully singing in the background. Cecil scrolled until the song he wanted came up and tapped to advance. 

Then came the question of how much to speed up the notes. The boys talked over each other.

(“You’re increasing it that much!?” “Is that too much?” “Maybe just one level?” “Hmm, would that be enough?” “No, now you’ve went too slow!” “How about this then?” “That seems kinda fast…”)

Shaking off any indecision, Cecil backed out of the live settings and went forward with the song. He was greeted with notes coming at him with what must have been near supersonic speed. His fingers stumbled, fumbling clumsily with the opening notes. His chosen team for the live show made up the difference but the end result wasn’t ideal. Frowning at the, albeit less, number of bad and missed notes, a multitude of quick taps to the screen got the next show ready to go.

His finger hesitated over the start button. This would be his last chance for a while, one part due to the lack of stamina left and the other was that his free time was dwindling. Cecil took a slow, steadying intake of breath. From his sides, Otoya and Syo gave encouragement.

“You almost had it that time!”

“Next time for sure!”

This was no different than singing a difficult part in a song or remembering a choreographed dance move from memory. That was how Cecil approached it, raising it up to that high a level. With the bar made personal, the only thing left to do was proceed forward.

He tapped to begin.

Within seconds, his fingers had to adjust to a bombardment of notes. He gave a spastic jerk, thumbs zooming all over the screen before sliding to cover the oncoming train of note combos. So far, so good. He had passed the intro to the song. There was a moment of relief, a moment of reassurance. He had come this far and practiced this hard, he was going to be able to do it this time. For sure.

The moment of respite passed all too soon.

Cecil was well used this beat map by now, he could likely play it in his sleep. He switched to auto pilot as he systemically hit the notes perfectly. His rhythm turned robotic through Ren and Syo’s verses, thumbs flying. His peanut gallery was silent, nothing more than coloured shadows in the edge of his vision.

He had to focus; this was where it got hard.

It was about this point in the song where the tension built up in his joints. There were mental shouts to move _faster_ and to _keep up_ because stiffening up wasn’t an option. Cecil didn’t even want to blink during the chorus, knowing that if he did, he’d likely miss the cues for the upcoming notes. The final barrage was nearly upon him.

The ending had to be by far the absolute worst part of the song. Though the beat map mirrored the opening of the song, by the time anyone actually made it to the end, their endurance was running out. The ending of Netsujou Serenade only served to destroy the dreams of small children and ruin promising futures, feats Cecil had only attributed before to Camus. He had to grit his teeth and keep going.

It was the home stretch now. His team showed their true colours now, saving his combo when his thumb missed the mark or his speed wasn’t enough to nab a note on time. That’s what they were there for, after all. Seeing those greats pop up at the bottom of his screen only pushed Cecil to work harder. 

There was no time for a final note countdown. There was only the mad rush of _left, right, left, right, left, right, left, right, left, right, sliiiide, sliiiiiiide_ and then…!

The rainbow text barely had enough time to flash across his screen before he was being tackled from both sides. 

(“You did it!” “Can you do mine too?” “Hey, Otoya! Do your own!”)

His thumbs tingled and his hands shook but he was breathless in the best way. The first response to his achievement was a laugh, high and giggly. The rush was nearly as good as being on stage. Otoya was still whining about not being able to do it and Syo was in the middle of berating him over it. Being, quite literally, in the middle of their argument made his accomplishment feel warm and lively.

Then came the crash.

Stress removed; Cecil collapsed where he sat. A content smile still graced his lips as he didn’t interrupt the good-natured bickering. Otoya was trying to persuade Syo to take half, at least half of the screen while he takes the other half. The argument wasn’t convincing Syo, the blond refuting Otoya’s claims that them splitting the screen together would work. More than comfortable to let the two of them figure it out, Cecil was ready to check out of the conversation. 

A success like this called for a nap. He would have to send a screenshot of his victory to Shion later, too. He was so caught up in his thoughts that Cecil nearly missed when the speech was directed at him.

“Now you can do the master level songs!”

At Otoya’s mention of the next level, Cecil froze. His smile disappeared in an instant as the thought of increasing the difficulty was mentioned. Green eyes fixed themselves on a point in the distance, staring unblinkingly as reality set in. It made Syo shake his head at Otoya’s comment.

“Man, you couldn’t even give him five minutes…”

**Author's Note:**

> Shion's advice is what I used to get my full combo for this song. I used to play with a note speed of 7 so I changed it to 8. Instant full combo. If the notes are blending together and you can't see them, you need to increase the speed. I now play on 7.5! I can't believe I found master level songs easier than this abomination.
> 
> The funniest character is still Masa by a long shot. Even Ai, the android, sees Masa as robotic sometimes. Everyone thinks he's extremely weird but he's so well behaved, polite, and earnest that no one can do anything about it...


End file.
